The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-13
r1ppU TIB,s NEW MANSION.
A4is Reception Whom He Arrived at
the Scene Of His Slave-Hunting Ex-
r1IOitS

the Scene of His Slave-Hunting Ex-
ploits.
From, the Netv York Sun.
A remarkable experiment is now in prog
,ress in central Africa. The Congo State is
fighting fire with fire. In other words, it
has taken into its service the greatest of
African slave dealers. and hopes through
him to suppress the cruel slave trade which
is now decimating the country far and
wide around Stanley Falls. Early in June
Tippu lib arrived at Stanley Falls, and
was gladly welcomed by the scores OF
Arab traders there until they learned
that he had entered the service of the white
men, and that he had come back to kill the
trade by which he and they have thrived.
THE world will watch with interest the out
come of this unique experiment. 1t was
Tippu lib who six years ago led the Arabs
several hundreds of miles down the Congo
10 Stanley Falls, the latest stronghold OF
their trade 1t is he who has been deputed
TO drive them back again unless they obey
the laws of the Congo State and give UP
their inhuman traffic.
Among the crowds who flocked to vel
come him on his return were 500 Arabs who
had pitched their camp on one of the big
islands below the falls. They were just
completing their preparations to start down
the river on great slave-hunting raid.
Jippu lib aStonished them with the news
that he was the Governor of the Stanley
Falls district, and that they must ravage the
country no longer for slaves 1t is not sur
prising that they heard this command from
the lips of one who had long been the great
est slave and ivory dealer in Central Africa
with astonishment and incredulity. When
they found tn It he meant what he said they
bluntly told him that they would do as they
pleased. Their leader, Saidbin- Habub, al
most as famous trader as Tippu lib him
self, told his former friend that he would
not recognize his authority.
Both these men have played a prominent
part in the stories told by African explorers,
and both of them are apparently destined
to figure largely in the current history OF
Central Africa. Fifteen years ago. when
Livingstone was writing his Last Jour
nals,n he told how Said Habub was
fighting against King Miranda, the power
full native enemy of the Arabs. He de,
scribed Tippu lib as carrying things with
a high hand" insisting that all the chiefs
within his reach send their ivory to him
and putting one chief in chains who had re-
fused to give him monopoly of his trade.
The two Zanzibar traders then lived east OF
Lake Tanganyika, and they did not possess
half the wealth and influence they attained
later, when they crossed Tanganyika and
pushed their enterprises far afield to
Nyangwe and Stanley Falls, 800 miles from
the scene of their earlier exploits.
These two powerful traders, then, are
pitted against each other in the battle OF
civilization against slavery If Tippu Til
remains true to his pledges to put down the
slave trade in the district he is to govern we
may expect any day to hear exciting news
from Stanley Falls. All we know as yet is
that, owing to the sudden and unexpected
return of Tippu lib to Stanley Falls, only 6
part of his force of 1000 adherents and
soldiers is there, and he does not feel strong
enough at present to exert all the force
needed to compel the submission of the slave
dealers. He has, therefore, asked the
Congo State to send him a small force Of
soldiers and two European officers, whose
advice and encouragement he thinks will
greatly assist him during the first months
of his new undertaking.
Many of the ZanZibaris at Stanley Falls
are Tippu Tbs own people, and they, Of
course, have yielded obedience to his wishes
But when he left the falls, over year ago
he took with him up the river a large part
of his force, who have since been carrying
on his ivory trade at Kasongo, nearly 40(
miles south of the falls. When he left Fan
zibar with Stanley last spring for the
Congo he sent some of his people overland
to KaSongo to give notice of his new plans
When the news reaches Kasongo it is prob
able that considerable force will at once
rejoin Tippu lib at Stanley Falls, and he
will then be strong enough to make himself
master of the situation. KaSongo is
the little city that Tippu lib has built in
Central Africa. 1t owes its importance
solely to the fact that it is the centre of his
enterprises Lieut.. Gleerup, who visited
the town year ago last spring, says it oc
cupies a lovely valley few miles from the
I,,s- ,,,l,.
lar streets and number of stone and
cement buildings, and Gleerup calls the
residence of Tippu lib, which is built of
stone, two stories high, and covers a large
area, a vast and magnificent building
DIR. LEM wrote last year that the influence
OF Tippu lib was far greater throughout al
the upper Congo region than that of the
Congo State. 1t was Tippu lib who dis
armed the natives for 100 miles along both
banks Of the Congo when the tribes neal
Stanley Falls tried to fight him soon after
his first arrival there He simply sent his
900 soldiers, armed with guns, along the
river, destroyed every implement of war
fare he could find, and threatened to put tc
death any native who was caught with
weapons in his hands "The natives,
wrote Dr.. LEM, ''are now incapable of any
resistance.
Stanley Falls is the centre of large popu-
lation of fishermen. The natives catch
enormous quantities of fish, which they
barter with other tribes for agricultural OF
other products On the large island where
the buildings of the white station were
burned by the Arabs last year, Tippu
lib has re-established the headquarters
of the Congo State. viii he prove worthy
of the trust reposed i'll him! WIN he, if
need be, engage in warfare with his coun
trymen, his brother Mohammedans, his
former friendsl Time alone can tell
Stanley has the fullest confidence in him
and in the last letter he wrote before start
ing on the last stage of his journey to Wa
deaf the explorer said he believed Tippl
lib would be perfectly faithful and would
prove to be the best Governor who could be
found for the district of Stanley Falls.